


A Hundred Billion Bottles

by gardnerhill



Category: Elementary (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Community: watsons_woes, Gen, Homelessness, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 11:45:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1777828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardnerhill/pseuds/gardnerhill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They are acts of charity. But they are also messages in bottles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hundred Billion Bottles

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: For the 2014 JWP Practice Prompt **#9: Charity.** This is based on information provided in the Elementary episode 2.15, “Corpse de Ballet.”

She brings them home now and then. 

It began with the blanket distribution in the park, that bitter winter night. She might not have her credentials any more, but as she moved among the huddled men and women she listened and looked – and diagnosed. Part of being a good detective is trusting one’s instincts, and her former job as sober companion was all about understanding that everyone has dignity and agency that must be respected. 

_ Excuse the intrusion, ma’am. I was a doctor, and your cough worries me. With your permission, I am offering a place inside for a night. I could listen to your chest and possibly have a friend write a prescription. This is where I stay.  _

_ Sir? I used to be a doctor. Would you like me to look at that foot? If I were to treat it, I would need to keep you overnight for observation. This is the address, if you’re interested.  _

_ I’m sorry it’s only a stopgap, but it might mean one less stay in the E.R. for you. Here’s the card.  _

Some of them ignore her, some curse her out as a do-gooder yuppie trying to soothe her guilty conscience. But some of them come back to the brownstone – as many as five a night (Joan enjoys Sherlock’s amused consternation more than she should – let _him_ get used to unexpected company from his partner once in a while!). They use the shower, raid the fridge, read the books in the sitting room where a cozy fire snaps and crackles in the manner that had earned Ms Hudson her merit badge as a Scout. The guest room is provided, stocked with condoms, if any of them want to have sex. 

While their clothes tumble dry Joan cleans and tends sores, prescribes antibiotics and blood pressure medication, reminds George to keep his dog from eating the turtle in the aquarium.  She also tells them her ulterior motive. They nod, unsurprised. 

When they leave the next day they leave with a sack of rations and water bottles, some of Sherlock’s ghastly t-shirts, a first-aid kit, and one of Sherlock’s burner phones. They also leave with a physical description of Joan’s father. 

She knows it’s a million to one shot. She doesn’t even know if he’s alive, let alone in this state. 

But in the meantime she treats each stranger she takes home as her father in disguise, and sends them back out into the world to find him.


End file.
